Capitalising on Opportunities for Technology Job Growth

June 12, 2018
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The potential for job growth in the United States today may be at historic highs. The Digital Revolution of the past two decades has created new positions and even entirely new industries, opening up the potential for an unheard of number of new jobs. Where we’re falling short is in translating the potential of technology into real job creation in the U.S.

It seems strange to us now that, at the dawn of the Internet Age, we once worried about losing jobs to technology. The reality is that technology has been a great engine of job growth. Look at the example of Silicon Valley, which became a magnet for global talent in the 1990s. When you bring highly skilled people, you create more jobs, and today Silicon Valley remains home to the headquarters of some of the world’s largest companies, also employ people all across the U.S. Even outside of these major firms, other skilled, high-paying jobs in IT services have been created all over the country.

NASSCOM, has been working with the Boston Consulting Group on a comprehensive study to identify nine technologies that have the most potential for job creation. We found that they are Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Social & Mobile, Data Analytics, Virtual Reality, Internet of Things (IoT), 3D Printing and Cloud Computing.The study found that these nine technologies have the potential to create more than 65 new job roles that do not exist today. These roles will be critical to companies’ success.

At the center of all of these new technologies is data. We are collecting, analyzing and using data in new ways, and making breakthroughs when we share it across countries. And because data is flowing around the world, we need to have cross-border talent mobility. Bringing highly-skilled people to your location will create jobs. In the new economy, talented people will move to a new city or country to establish a business or a branch of their business. These businesses will then create jobs in that location.

To fill these jobs, it’s crucial that we focus on skills development. It’s true that, when it comes to technology, skill development can never keep pace with the job needs. Whenever a new technology appears, there will always be a lag as enough people learn the skills to use it. That creates a gap between what the number of jobs available and the number of people with the skills to fill them. But over time, as workers gain the skills they need, that gap should decrease.

By identifying the nine technology growth areas, NASSCOM hopes to offer a head start to those who see their future in the technology industries, so that they can go out and create the innovations of tomorrow.